In posh Doaba villages, exodus abroad an issue, say residents

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 20

As you enter Shahkot and Nakodar, even before you set eyes on an ECI SVEEP poster or a booth decked with voter-awareness signage, huge IELTS banners and advertisements luring youths to go abroad greet visitors.

While Doaba is the prosperous NRI belt, many posh houses in villages have tenants living in them as the owners are staying abroad. As the state went to vote on Sunday, this was also a major issue with the local populace. A majority of them said the state needs better jobs to stop villages emptying out at alarming rates.

Lakhwinder Singh Chattha, a resident of Dhandowal village in Shahkot, said: “In an entire village, most of the families have gone abroad. Even if someone stays, their families are outside. If one of the brothers is here, then the other is outside the country and all children are abroad. There are many houses where tenants are taking care of their parents. If the government provided enough jobs here, why would someone go out. This is also one of the primary reasons we have voted. We want a government which ensures jobs for youth here.”

Gurbaksh Kaur, a resident of the Talwandi Saghera village says: “If things were fine here why would people go out? I have recently been to Canada. The government there is so helpful to elderly and in buses and public transport, they are accorded all kinds of help. There isn’t such awareness on such issues here. The government needs to make people aware.”

Gurbaksh Kaur said: “Youths do not want to stay here. What jobs can they do even if they stay. Hence, they opt out.”

Swaran Singh, another resident of Talwandi Saghera village, said: “Our village does not have a institution for children beyond Class XII. When we are clamouring for basic facilities such as education, ensuring job for children is yet a bigger call. Fields are getting smaller. Hence, even farming isn’t as lucrative anymore. Students know the government does not care about them. Job generation is not being ensured. For everyone going abroad is a shortcut which convinces them of a better life. In these emptied out villages, this is a primary issue.”